Riddles on Lies
by Panda-Hiroko
Summary: Like a puddle of silt your thoughts only need to be stirred and they rise to the surface, waiting to be read by anyone who knows how. But how do you read thoughts that don't exist yet?  Mentions of torture and tons of insanity courtesy of me. Urgent AN!
1. Chapter 1

**PandaFlower: Welcome and all** **to my not so much new as just too lazy to upload story. Thank you so much for your cooperation and have a god morning!**

**Disclaimer: If you don't want to face Hiroko's ill-tempered bed-head wrath then I suggest that you hang up on that lawyer. XD**

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Riddles on Lies

Chapter 1

_Ow…_

That was Allen's first thought upon wakefulness.

The next was…

_Shit._

A very apt expletive considering his new unfortunate circumstance, how he got into this position was a complete mystery however.

What is his circumstance you ask? Well it wasn't pretty I can tell you.

He was lying on a bed or to be more accurate he was chained to a bed with weird glowing purple-black ropes that were vaguely itchy.

His wrists were tethered to the posts and a collar attached him to the headboard, the rest just sort of criss-crossed over his torso and legs.

The bed was pushed up against a wall to the right in a grey unadorned room. There was one window and two doors. The window was open allowing sunlight to spill across the floor. One door was open and it contained what appeared to be a small bathroom unit, the other door was closed and most likely locked.

Now about that first thought.

Now that Allen was fully awake and aware he noticed several areas on his body that, for lack of a better term, hurt like hell.

His right leg for example felt broken.

His abdomen felt bruised…a lot.

A series of minor gashes and bruises that would make nuisances of themselves as they healed, like the cut in his hairline.

And that rest felt like he spared with Kanda and fended off an army of Akuma at the same time. It wasn't a flowery feeling.

'How did I get here in the first place?' Allen wondered, he tugged at the weird glowing ropes on his wrists, arched his body to test for weaknesses in the rest. Nothing.

Lovely. Just lovely.

Allen sighed, frustrated as the seconds ticked past. He shifted to a more comfortable position, shifted again and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and relaxed, and then started thrashing desperately, frantically, until the skin on his wrists tore and his injuries cried out.

Allen settled down once more and waited, and waited. Again he went limp and closed his eyes, attempting to calm down. He tried meditating. The minutes ticked by soundlessly and still Allen waited.

"I'm bored," Allen said at last. Where was his kidnapper come to gloat or torture him something? Not that he wanted to be tortured but he still wanted to know who kidnapped him.

He let his thoughts wander aimlessly for another five minutes. He thought about all his friends who were probably worried sick about his disappearance if they even noticed. He _had_ been on a long solo mission after all…wasn't he? Allen panicked briefly; he couldn't remember where he'd been!

Allen's head turned in the direction of the closed door so fast his neck popped, he narrowed his eyes, he was sure he heard a noise.

Aha! The door was opening!

Into the room stepped…someone he's never seen before.

He appeared to be of average height; his hair was platinum blond and held back by a striped turban-like scarf thing and his blue eyes glittered with secrets and mischievousness.

He wore a sleeveless vest and loose billowy pantaloons and slippers, all in white.

What a weird guy.

Weird guy whistled, "Geez, only fifteen minutes and you're already ready to tear your hair out. That's some attention span you got, and here I was thinking you could entertain yourself for a while," he said amusedly.

Allen blinked, feeling vaguely insulted he said, "And who are you?"

It was the weird guy's turn to blink, "Didn't I already introduce myself?"

"No."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Allen asked; why was this guy just staring at him?

"Hmm, I don't think I should anymore. It's more fun that way, Allen Walker,"

Allen felt a chill; suddenly he was glad that the stranger was standing on the other side of the room, he opened his mouth, "How do I know you, right?" the stranger said, Allen closed his mouth, "Such a cliché question, I'm disappointed."

"Why am I here is the next one right?" the stranger asked, taking a step forward and another.

Allen nodded dumbly; the stranger smiled taking a few more steps. The stranger was now half-way across the room.

"Ah, such a deep question that one, slightly less disappointing then 'how do you know me,'" a few more steps, "the answer to that is actually quite simple. I have a riddle I cannot solve, but you have the answer," the stranger was now standing in front of the bed.

"You mean you kidnapped me for a stupid reason like that?" Allen was pissed, who did this guy think he is?

The stranger waved nonchalantly, "Oh, fine if you like, whether I get my answer or not, I'll still kill you and destroy the Innocence."

"Who are you?" Allen demanded, thrashing angrily. A cool hand on his forehead stopped him, the stranger bent down close, grinning widely. Allen's eyes widened as the pale skin darkened to an ashen grey and the mischievous blue eyes turned golden, Allen couldn't see his forehead underneath his turban but there was probably a line of crosses.

"Noah…" Allen shrank away from the Noah as best he could, which wasn't much.

"So Allen, will you answer my riddle?" the Noah asked.

"I don't even know what the riddle is!"

The Noah grinned again, "Why my dear boy, the riddle is you!"

Allen stared, hard.

"You see even with my eyes you're still an enigma. I know all about you but I still can't puzzle out the way you think," the Noah said, sitting on the bed, "You have a yearning for death, that yearning is soul deep. You don't actively seek it out but nevertheless on a deep level you do not wish to live. And yet each time you are faced with it you struggle with all your might, you don't want to live and yet you're afraid to die. Why is that?"

"Um, fear of the unknown?" Allen supplied sarcastically, "That's not too farfetched is—"

-_**Smack!**_

Allen exhaled sharply, "Don't fuck with me Allen Walker. That's not the answer and you know it," the Noah said calmly.

"Well, what if I don't know the answer?" Allen spat, back hands hurt.

The grin got wider, if that was humanly possible.

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**PandaFlower: And there you have it! A prologue.**

**HirokoHana: Zzzz…kill…Zzzz**

**PandaFlower: CRAP! She's waking up! Reviews make the dragon sleep, hurry press the button Obi-Wan! You're my only hope!**


	2. Chapter 2

**PandaFlower: Tadaa~! The second but actually the first chapter!**

**HirokoHana: *Stares at fly buzzing around head***

**PandaFlower: This one probably doesn't make any more sense than the last one but it all ties in, I promise!**

**HirokoHana: *Frog tongue shoots out and eats fly***

**PandaFlower: …ew…we don't own anything, particularly Hiroko's mind. What have I told you about messing with the discombulator-anator! **

**HirokoHana: Croak!**

Chapter 1

The image was heartrending.

Allen lay on a bed trussed with more ropes then even a rabid animal is provided with. His clothes were torn and filthy with blood both old and new. There was a hint of bone sticking out of his right arm.

Lenalee gasped, she was instantly at his side tugging on the ropes of dark matter, "Kanda, help me!" she glanced beseechingly at the swordsman.

Kanda swiftly severed the ropes and pulled Allen over his shoulder, Allen groaned and coughed weakly, a splotch of blood hit the back of Kanda's jacket.

"Let's hurry; we need to regroup with Lavi immediately!" Lenalee pulled open the door for Kanda before taking the lead. With Allen on his shoulder Kanda wouldn't be able to draw Mugen if it came to a fight.

There wasn't a fight and the facility wasn't big, they made it to the front door in no time where Lavi was waiting for them. Lavi fell in stride behind Kanda, "Rabbit, where's the nearest hospital?" Kanda asked; he shifted Allen's body with a soft grunt; he'd been starting to slide.

"Take a left, this road leads to a town about half a mile away," Lavi said, "We'll be going downhill in a minute, we'll get there faster,"

Allen whimpered quietly, blinking blurry eyes, calmly he surveyed his new position.

"Allen! You're awake! How are you feeling buddy?" Lavi asked, bending down slightly to peer at the white haired Exorcist's bruised face, "You look awful," he said absently, studying the new scars on his face, though it was rather difficult with all the blood on his face.

Allen gazed at him with blank eyes, nodding contentedly.

"What's the matter Moyashi-chan?" Lavi asked jokingly, "Cat got your tongue?" he smiled widely, expecting Allen to get indignant and retort.

Allen just smiled blankly and shook his head.

Now Lavi was starting to get worried, "Allen what's the matter? Speak to me!"

Kanda and Lenalee stopped, Kanda quickly but gently sat Allen down on the roadside and tilted his face up, "What the hell is your problem?" he asked. Allen seemed to look past him dreamily; slowly his cracked, bleeding lips parted and Lenalee clapped a hand over mouth in horror. Kanda took one look before-gently-closing Allen's mouth. He did not want to see the sight of Allen's missing tongue. He frowned, placing a hand on Allen's bloody brow, "Shit, he's burning up!"

"You're lucky you brought him to us when you did, aside from being delirious with a fever he's suffering from severe internal damage," the doctor sighed, "Also we think something might have been done to his head, drugs maybe, there's some swelling in the back," he held his hand up in a reassuring gesture, "Ah, don't worry the swelling is in a fairly useless part of the brain, we stop using it after we're born. We could probably cut it out and he'll be fine but brain surgery is so risky. We'll try to find a way to fix it without having to cut him open. Also his tongue will grow back, it's one of the few body parts that do. Don't worry."

"Can we see him?" Lenalee asked hopefully.

The doctor smiled kindly, "We just finished patching him up, he's conscious but we're not sure how aware he is. You can have a few minutes while we set up the equipment to finish diagnosing him," Lenalee looked worried, the doctor patted her shoulder, "if you would, could you replace the cloth on his forehead every now and then?"

Lenalee nodded eagerly, she needed to do something not wait around and twiddle her thumbs!

Kanda and Lavi followed silently.

Allen was staring out the window dreamily his features finally cleaned of blood. He was very thin and pale. The room they found him in had a window but obviously the light hadn't been able to reach him. Lenalee traced sadly over the new scars on his face. Most were small and almost invisible but a few still stood out, like they had healed recently.

Allen's eyes flicked to hers and back to the window at the touch.

Lenalee sat carefully on the edge of the bed, "Allen? Do you know who I am?" she asked softly, Allen smiled at her sweetly, almost like a child would, and brushed his fingers against her cheek. Lenalee gasped softly and then Allen twirled his fingers in her hair and tangling everything up, giggling all the while. She glared at him half-heartedly as she untangled his hand; he was once again staring out the window.

Kanda and Lavi watched from the doorway, they made no move to enter the room though in truth they were as worried as Lenalee was. Allen had disappeared on his last mission five months ago, it was supposed to be an easy thing not even a 10% chance of Innocence but after he boarded the train he just disappeared. After a week of gnawing their nails they finally learned that he was being held hostage by a Noah supposedly for information.

Looking at Allen now Kanda just wanted to wring that bastard Noah's neck. To see Allen reduced to _this_…it was just so wrong. Allen didn't even seem to be aware of what was going on around him.

Allen's gaze suddenly flicked back to Lenalee, he sat up abruptly, "Allen don't you're hurt!" Allen ignored Lenalee's attempts to get him to lie back down and grabbed a clipboard that had been left on the side table. He struggled to get the pen unfastened from the side until Lenalee pulled it and the cap off.

Lavi and Kanda quickly made their way to his bedside as he scribbled franticly.

_I don't know how long I'm going to be lucid, quick ask me questions!_

"What are you talking about Allen? This can wait for later you need to—

Allen shook his head violently, silencing any protests.

_This can't wait_. _I'm fine for now._

"What do you mean for now?" Kanda asked incredulously. He stared down at the younger Exorcist with no small amount of skepticism.

_I'm going to have a bad headache very soon. I probably won't be lucid again until I'm completely healed, please ask better questions._

"Lavi why don't you ask the questions, being a Bookman you'll have experience getting the most information out of a short period of time," Lenalee said, glancing between the two elder Exorcists standing by the bed and the younger one sitting hunched over the clipboard and refusing to look them in the eye.

"'Kay!" Lavi said determinedly, "Alright Allen, who captured you?"

_A Noah by the name of Wisely. You won't know him._

"What's his power? Have you seen it?"

_There's nothing to see it's all in your head, all your thoughts parading past ready to be read…_

"Allen? I don't understand what you mean,"

_I feel all fuzzy…_

"Shit, don't try to get clear answers out of him, just get what you can before he can't write!" Kanda said, "We'll puzzle it out later, got it?" Lavi nodded.

"What did he want you for?"

_Riddles._

"Riddles?"

_Riddles. Every day it's four riddles. The numbers don't change but the answers do. Never the last, no answer for the last. I can't answer myself, can I? Can't I? _

"So he wanted riddles,"

_Not riddles. What the riddles meant._

"You got new ones every day?"

_Never the last, no answer for the last…_

"Was he trying to get information on the inner workings of the Order?"

_Of course not. Wisely doesn't need to ask for information. It's all there, clear as day like a normal conversation. _

"What is?"

_Thoughts. Wisely reads your thoughts. The ones you're thinking right now. The ones you know your thinking, the ones you don't know you're thinking, the ones buried so deep you forgot you even thought them. They just rise to the surface like a puddle full of silt. You only need to stir things up. _

Allen's hands began to shake, Lenalee wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "I think that's enough, this can obviously wait," she said.

Allen shook his head again, he pushed Lenalee back just enough to write.

_My head hurts. Not enough time. _

"Does he know everything you know?" That was bad, the Earl—!

_He can't tell, I won't let him. Wisely made me hurt if I didn't have an answer. I could answer some but not all. Never the last, no answer for the last. But I got my revenge. Knowledge exchanged and knowledge silenced._

"What do you…?" Allen wasn't even listening anymore. He seemed to be having trouble breathing if his ragged pants were anything to go by.

_Have you ever wondered why Dark Matter comes from humans but White Matter comes from crystals? It's so odd. My head hurts, it hurts a lot. I don't like it but Wisely is stupid. So stupid…stupid…_

The pen slipped through his shaking fingers, leaving a black smear across the paper. The boy didn't seem to care; he clutched his head, fingers snaking through white locks. He fell backward with a cry.

By the time the doctors burst into the room Allen was screaming and thrashing as his friends held him down. They worked fast, hooking him up to sedatives and various machines, they pumped him full of painkillers but he wouldn't stop screaming. He had no tongue but he didn't need it to cry out his pain and it just kept going until the Exorcists were pushed back into the waiting room and the door muffled his cries.

**PandaFlower: Yep, we're mean, we give you plot and it comes out like garbled nonsense. On the other hand after eating that fly Hiroko is now a fly/frog/human/thingie/monster. I'm writing this from her stomach.**

**HirokoHana: *rumble***

**PandaFlower: Nooo! Not the digestive fluids!**


	3. Chapter 3

**PandaFlower: Okay peoples, I hate to do this but it's gotta be done. I can't put it off any longer.**

**HirokoHana: Basically, what she's trying to say is that she's a pansy.**

**PandaFlower: *sighs* I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.**

**HirokoHana: You just did.**

**PandaFlower: We are seriously getting off track here!**

**HirokoHana: Just trying to keep the mood light is all.**

**PandaFlower: Well, it's not working.**

**HirokoHana: Just tell them already, you're making this more painful than it has to be.**

**PandaFlower: Alright! Alright! The truth of the matter is that I no longer have the inspiration to continue this fic. I tried, I truly did. I wrote and rewrote and stressed but, nada. So I'm discontinuing this story and it is going up for adoption. If you are interested than, please PM me and I will send you the original idea for the basic plotline and you can do whatever you want with it.**

**HirokoHana: See? That wasn't so hard now wa—**

**PandaFlower: WHY? IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL! IT WAS PERFECT AND I CAN'T EVEN FORM THE WORDS! I kept it for so long but it wouldn't come back to me. It feels like putting a puppy in the pound. *falls over sobbing* **

**HirokoHana: *slaps Panda* Get a hold of yourself, girl, you're making a scene! You can't go through with them all, so dry those tears and let me see your GRR face!**

**PandaFlower: *sniffle* …grr…**

**HirokoHana: I can't hear you!**

**PandaFlower: Grr.**

**HirokoHana: Again!**

**PandaFlower: Grr!**

**HirokoHana: AGAIN!**

**PandaFlower: GRR!**

**HirokoHana: Now who are you!**

**PandaFlower: I. Am. Authoress!**

**HirokoHana: Yeah! Now pull yourself together and do what you do best! Write!**

**PandaFlower: Yeah! You're right! To the computer! *runs into doorframe and knocks self out***

**HirokoHana: -.- At least she's not crying…**


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